Germany arrests man suspected of spying for US

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
German gold situation shows everything that needs to be shown. Everyone spies on everyone, this really is not a huge deal, just politics.

"Caught" is just the MSM allowed to run a theatre critic's
piece on the last play... with only one theater company.

The intelligence agencies have ho real secrets at the
top level because they all work for the same pyramid.
CIA, MI6, Mossad, BND etc. just the same bird with
different plumage.

I believe personally if there's any meat in the story it
would be Angela not having even one clear line to talk on.
It could get on MY nerves-- don't know about anyone else.

a reply to: crazyewok

The amount of spying related subjects that US alphabet agencies have been involved in lately makes me think is it any wonder other people or nations are returning the favour!

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! What's good for the goose is good for the gander! LoL

I don't think this is much of a surprise to anyone really. Everyone spies on everyone else. It's been going on for years and will continue to go on in the future.
If you going to do it, just make sure you don't get caught.
I would be interested to know what the US does with the information and what exactly they were hoping to find.

I'm going to do a little speculating here and look at this from a different perspective.

Der Spiegel news magazine said the man was believed to have passed secret documents to a US contact in exchange for money.
However, one unnamed politician told Reuters news agency the suspect had offered his services to the US voluntarily.

The two are not mutually exclusive. Even if someone comes to and offers to spy for a foreign intelligence agency based on ideological grounds, they're likely to be encouraged to accept money because this gives the foreign intelligence agency leverage should the spy ever develop a case of cold feet.

But here is the main thing, the spy was most certainly a volunteer. The CIA has a horrible track record of actually recruiting spies. But when you're in the spy business you need to have spies to justify your existence and the money that's allocated to your mission. No spies and people start to ask what they're paying you for, they start to wonder if you're really necessary or worth the trouble.

Given their track record in recruiting spies, I suspect that they're a little reluctant to turn down volunteers; regardless of where they're from, even if they're from a friendly nation, provided they make the Agency look effective to the folks that hold the purse strings. You know, until they get caught. If they were doing a better job, (Not a job I'm suggesting is easy), of targeting and recruiting spies where we need them, I think they'd be less likely to take the risks associated with accepting a volunteer from a friendly nation.

I think this just might be a bureaucratic and opportunistic problem, a sort of "cooking of the books" if you will, rather than a serious attempt to target and recruit spies in Germany.

EDIT Think keystone cops, not James Bond

a reply to: crazyewok

Whether it is a foreign power in alignment or in opposition is never the issue. There are so many reasons why nations spy on one another. Germany is the essential power holder in Europe and there are so many interests across so many areas that for any Nation of power like the US etc. that it is always in the best National interests to have an ear to the ground of what it going on and potentially poses a threat. It is a shameful reality that all major powers participate in. Economics, Politics and Military interests are always at the heart of it all. They all go hand in hand unfortunately.

My best guess is that there will be no consequences, too. Right now, there is some outrage from the higher-ups of the politicla parties but in 2-3 days, there will be business as usual like nothing has happenend at all.

I've been a fan of germany for some time now, i trust them to make sure this bullsnot gets sorted.

"America - world police" - leave us all alone already you nosy fiddling agencys, most americans dont want it, we dont want it, so just quit with the spy mastery already seesh. You think america doesnt have other more pressing issues at home to blow their tax dollars on first?

Priorities people!

Second spy got caught:
abcnews.go.com...

German authorities are investigating a second spy case reportedly involving the U.S., a week after the arrest of a German intelligence employee cast a new shadow over relations between the two countries.

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that police raided properties in the Berlin area on "initial suspicion of activity for an intelligence agency." They did not elaborate or specify what intelligence agency was involved, but said they had not made an arrest.

"We have investigations in two cases of suspected espionage, a very serious suspicion," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin. He declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigations.

The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported, without naming sources, that the man being investigated worked at Germany's Defense Ministry and is suspected of spying for the United States. Die Welt newspaper reported, also without naming sources, the man was a soldier in the German army who had aroused the suspicion of Germany's military counter-intelligence agency because of his close contacts to alleged U.S. spies.

Just send more and more spy's, it's a strategy that works, just flood it then it becomes normal and just not newsworthy

a reply to: Biigs

And more to that, i wonder how much it really costs the american tax payer for each spy they have. I cant imagine that comes cheap per capita

a reply to: dollukka

here is the fun fact thing within this context. everybody spies, on everybody else, friends and foes alike. i bet the British intelligence service is just riddled with American, German, Canadian, Russian,Chinese, and everybody else's spies, for example. it's just part of how the game is played. hell i'm sure the US spies on Canada, and Canada spies on the US.

of course getting caught is another thing all together. it is one of those everyone knows things but it's just normal parts of the business, until someone gets caught, then it's all anger and whining about it. i seriously wonder if they caught this spy because Germany had a spy in the US intelligence agencies that saw something and reported it back to Germany.